“Oh, Merlin!” Tonks muttered furiously as she managed to overturn her pot of boiling noodles.
She sat down heavily on a nearby kitchen chair and exasperatedly ran a hand through her short, spiky hair. It was all just too much.
Two days ago the battle in the Department of Mysteries had taken place. The battle that had unkindly jerked the wizarding world out from its deceptive peace. Since she had been away for most hours of the day, her house had managed to become exuberantly messy. Cloaks were thrown unceremoniously on the floor and the backs of chairs, reports were strewn across every table, and plates were piled high in the sink.
Tonks sighed as her thoughts strayed back to that night. She’d hardly been able to forget it since.
She hadn’t been old enough to be close to Sirius before he went away to Azkaban, but in the two years that he’d been on the run, she had grown quite fond of her rebellious cousin. She’d spent most of her time at Grimmauld Place last year since she hadn’t had anything better to do. She and Sirius had stayed up late sharing stories on most nights and she had eventually become very attached to him.
When she had seen him fall slowly through that tattered veil and not appear on the other side she’d known that something had gone terribly wrong. The shock of witnessing her closest relative and best friend’s death cost her attention in a duel which resulted in an elongated stay at St. Mungo’s. After the battle at the Ministry Sirius hadn’t come back. He just wasn’t there and she didn’t know what to do about it.
Who was she going to share late night stories of Hogwarts adventures with? Who was going to be there when she didn’t know what to do next? How was she going to get over not staying up late with a cup of tea and Ogden‘s Old Firewhiskey with the closest thing to a brother she had?
As she thought of the laughs and memories she had shared with Sirius her eyes began to sting. Tonks, stop. You can’t keep crying, it won’t help.
She swiped angrily at the tear trails that ran down her cheeks and kicked herself mentally. Why can’t I just think about other things that aren’t so depressing?
She was jerked out of her morose thoughts by a light tap on the window. She glanced over and saw a small tawny owl hovering outside. She rushed over to towards it, tripped on the corner of the rug, and opened the window hastily. The owl swooped in, dropped the letter on the table and flew back out.
Tonks turned to retrieve the letter, careful to avoid the rug this time. When she picked up the parchment-coloured envelope, she saw the navy blue Order of the Phoenix seal on the back. She quickly opened it.
Dear Tonks,
I hope you get this in time, but Dumbledore has called a meeting today at five o’clock. You can stay after for dinner if you would like, dear, we have plenty of room.
Molly Weasley
Tonks smiled at the woman’s warmness and glanced at the clock above the stove. 4:30. I haven’t got enough time to eat anyway.
In the two short days since the battle there had been a Order meeting, many Death Eaters had been captured, and Tonks had always managed to be in the office. The Order had been working overtime in covering Sirius’ death, as well as keeping watch out for any suspicious activity.
Each member of the Order had a specific assignment to do and at this point in time Tonks was part of the guard on the Dursley’s house. She and four other Order members were stationed there, so every so often she got a break. She was quite glad that she hadn’t been assigned to Death Eater tracking right now because frankly, she didn’t think she could deal with it.
She looked over at her upturned pot of noodles and sighed. The boiling water had spilt all over the floor and the noodles were in a huge pile atop the counter. “Scourgify,” she muttered weakly, and with a swish of her wand the water and noodles disappeared and the pot went flying across the room.
“Bloody housekeeping spells. Never been able to do them very well,” she muttered angrily at her wand as she stomped over to the pot which was now lying on the floor under her table. She picked it up and placed it carelessly on the counter.
She turned and ambled into her bedroom, where there was a very large amount of confusion happening inside a small space.
Her bedclothes lay haphazardly among piles of robes atop a lopsided mattress. The floor was scattered with a fortnight’s worth of dirty clothing and the bureau’s doors were hanging open, clothes spilling out of it. She grimaced as she stepped over a pile of books and went to pull a clean set of robes off her bed.
I should probably clean this place up. It’s become extremely messy and I’ve hardly even noticed. She concentrated very hard on a spotless room and cried out, “Pack!”
The result was more or less what she hoped for, except instead of just her clothes flying neatly into the bureau, books and pillows did as well. She grumbled about housework spells again as she threw her cloak around her shoulders. Shoving her wand into her back pocket, she walked straight out to the front door.
Her small flat had been charmed so that no one could Apparate or Disapparate in or out. She opened her door, walked down the rickety metal steps, and stopped in front of the boarded up windows of Humphrey’s Fine Jewels. The yellow words were peeling off the wall and there was a superfluity of weeds growing about the place. She smirked and was gone with the blink of an eye.
Tonks arrived about a mile away from the Weasleys’ wobbly residence. She needed a while to think, and she did have twenty minutes left until she needed to be there, so she walked.
It was an overcast Sunday afternoon and she marveled at how the weather could match her mood so perfectly. Not only was the weather dreary, but her appearance had also begun to reflect it. Her hair had taken on a dull green colour and her eyes were grey.
The Burrow had been adopted as the Order Headquarters since no one knew who Grimmauld Place belonged to. By hereditary right it was supposed to pass on to Bellatrix Lestrange, but everyone assumed Sirius had passed it to Harry. The house was Unplottable, so it was impossible for Bellatrix to find out where it was, because Dumbledore was the Secret Keeper. The fact still remained that since the owner of the house was deceased, the powers that had gone along with it at that point in time were too. Just to be safe they were not going to go near Grimmauld Place until Sirius’s will had been read, and it had been properly bequeathed to the successor.
Tonks had been wondering and thinking for about ten minutes; she ended up on a bare country road and truly had no idea how to get to The Burrow anyway.
“Might as well just Apparate so Molly doesn’t get her knickers in a twist.” With a small pop! she was gone and a moment later she was standing in front of The Burrow. She slowly opened the door and at once noticed the commotion. There had to be at least thirty people milling about in the small kitchen.
Kingsley Shacklebolt, Mad-Eye Moody, Bill Weasley, Arthur Weasley, Mundungus Fletcher, Albus Dumbledore, and Sturgis Podmore were all sitting around the table laughing and drinking mead. The rest were standing about talking in small groups.
Tonks noticed that Remus looked at her as she walked in the house and a small smile came over his face. She grinned sheepishly at this and searched for Molly Weasley amongst the crowd. She found the petite woman bustling about the kitchen counter with her apron askew and flour smudged across her forehead.
“Anything I can do to help you, Molly?” Tonks asked when Molly stopped moving. Molly jumped and turned to face Tonks.
“Oh, hello, Tonks dear.” She warmly patted the younger woman’s arm and continued, “I think I’m almost finished, thank you though.”
Tonks nodded and moved on. She wasn’t almost finished. She just thinks I’m too clumsy to even pull a pudding out of the cupboard without breaking something.
“Ahem.” Someone tapped a glass with a spoon and everyone began to hush.
“This meeting is in session,” Dumbledore announced. “Is everyone accounted for?”
There was a general murmur of ‘yes’ and he continued, “As you all know the school year is approaching and we have to take extra precautions at Hogwarts. Voldemort will eventually target the two things he most fears: myself and Harry Potter. As we all know, both will be at Hogwarts this upcoming year. The Aurors to be stationed in Hogsmeade are Nymphadora Tonks, Demetrius Proudfoot, Howard Savage, and Neil Dawlish. You four are to keep a wary eye out for anything that seems out of place.
“Now,” he paused and looked at each of them over his half-moon spectacles, “I am placing much of my school’s well-being upon your shoulders. I trust in you to do your very best.” He smiled slightly and addressed a new group.
“Those of you who will be tracking Voldemort and the Death Eaters will be covert. The information I have obtained on this subject shows that there has been extremely little Dark activity in Britain, while there has been much more on the continent. With these facts one can assume that the majority of active Death Eaters, or Voldemort, are somewhere in Europe. I assure you this will be a very trying task but stay optimistic, for this will lead to the weakening of Dark power. On this mission I assign Charlie Weasley, Hestia Jones, Emmeline Vance, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Bill Weasley, and Sturgis Podmore. Once we have more leads relating to Dark activity more will be joining your ranks.
“As for the rest of you, it is your job to keep a close eye and a ready ear out wherever you go. At the Ministry, in Diagon Alley, while visiting Hogsmeade, anywhere. I have future assignments that will be put into action as the war progresses.”
“Are there questions about any of this?” he paused and waited for a voice to sound for a few moments before he clapped his hands together and announced, “With that said, let us enjoy the wonderful dish Molly has prepared for us.” And with a smile and a tilt of his head the meeting was over.
Voices erupted as people caught up with friends they hadn’t seen recently. Tonks sidled over to Remus who was laughing at one of Hestia Jones‘ jokes. Tonks noticed the lines on his face as his eyes crinkled into a smile. There was a large scar across his forehead that must have been the product of his last full moon.
“Hestia!” a voice called across the room. “I’ve been meaning to speak with you about a report you sent in a few weeks ago.” Kingsley appeared with two glasses of mead in his hands. He handed one to Hestia who in turn walked away with him.
Remus and Tonks stared at them as they walked away, before turning to one another.
“How have you been, Remus?”
He looked sadly down into his cup then glanced back up at her. “I think I’m going to be all right,” he said with a crack in his voice. Tonks smiled ruefully back at him and chuckled.
“You know what? He wouldn’t want us to be sad about this. He’d tell us to get on with our lives and fight in his name. It’d be a real pity to make him angry at us, now wouldn’t it?”
Remus grinned at her with admiration in his eyes. “You know, I bet you’re right. He’d curse us to Hell if he knew we just stood around mourning his death. What do you say to a toast?” He smiled and held up his glass. “To Sirius and his ever faithful influence!”
“To Sirius!” Tonks laughed and clinked glasses with her late cousin’s last remaining friend. “Now that we’ve drunk to him, what do you say we eat as well. All the better, he’d be very angry with us if we went without food over this.”
Remus sighed at their fake show of lightheartedness and followed her over to the table. Once everyone was seated, the food was passed around and everyone began to eat. Remus and Tonks sat at the end, next to Dumbledore.
“Remus, I need a quick word with you after we have finished dining,” Dumbledore announced suddenly.
Taken aback by the abrupt address, Remus dropped his fork on the ground and quickly Summoned it back. “Yes, of course, sir.”
Tonks snorted at his reaction before hastily righting herself and continuing to eat. Her cheeks reddened as Dumbledore shifted at her outburst.
All fell silent before Dumbledore spoke again, “I do hope this school year goes smoothly. It would be a shame if the Board of Governors chose to cancel the year after this one.” He frowned at the thought and went back to eating his Yorkshire pudding.
Remus and Tonks quickly glanced at each other. Remus gave her an incredulous look and she struggled to keep a snigger down.
That dinner would be one of the last remaining carefree occasions that would be held and everyone was eerily aware of it. As people spoke they either did so with a forced smile or sad expression on their faces. Once the strained affair had ended each person departed to his or her respective home.
Tonks and Remus meandered outside for a bit before leaving. Together they walked to the end of the
Weasleys’ bumpy dirt road without speaking. Once they reached the worn pavement of the country lane they turned to each other.
“This is it isn’t it?” Tonks asked with a wistful look in her eyes. Remus’ expression was quizzical but she continued. “The last happy place we will be before everything starts falling apart and all we could do was act false?”
He looked down at this feet and let out a faint laugh. “You know, Tonks, you’ve got a lot in you. I’ll see you around.” And was a smile and a wink of the eye Remus Lupin vanished.